Q: I was one of the travelers affected by the Southwest Airlines technology glitch on Sunday. My flight was from Las Vegas to Portland, Oregon. We ended up in one of the long outside lines in the blazing Vegas sun. Southwest held us back and accommodated people on later flights. We received no assistance with rebooking and were eventually turned loose to find our own way home via standby. Do I have any recourse? – Mark H., Portland, OR

A: In situations like this, since airlines don’t guarantee their schedules, most of the time they aren’t required to provide compensation, unless you’re dealing with a flight that involves the European Union. That doesn’t mean airlines shouldn’t offer something, but when this many people are affected by an unanticipated event, that’s often the reality. Still, it never hurts to ask. Mark actually emailed us on Monday, only a day after the problem occurred. I advised him to contact Southwest directly.

Less than an hour later he emailed back to say that he phoned Southwest Customer Service. Due to the scope of the problem, he anticipated a long wait. He was on hold for 30 minutes, but when he got to someone, he said he “nicely explained what happened and my concerns.” He also pointed out that his wife “was the real star. She jumped out of line to help people and pass out water and crackers. People thought she worked for SWA. She said, 'No, I'm just trying to help.’” The Southwest representative he spoke to was helpful and seemed concerned about the situation. She offered two $200 transferable travel vouchers, good for one year. He said the airline soothed their feelings about the event and they will consider flying with Southwest again because of its response.

So, if everything is already taken care of, why am I writing about it? First of all, it's to point out what is actually possible if employees are empowered to make decisions in the moment. Not only did Southwest turn a bad situation around for Mark and his wife, but I would bet their customer service helped the company's bottom line. If Mark had met with a wall of indifference and been told to write to the Customer Service email address, then received a boilerplate response with little or no compensation offered, he would have written again. Another representative would then have to review his file and write another response. If Mark still wasn’t satisfied, there may have been even another round. All of that takes time and money. In addition, because Southwest responded immediately, it didn’t give Mark or his wife the time to let the upset boil over. Now, when he talks to others, his story will include both the crazy day at the airport and the fact that Southwest later listened to him and made a real effort to respond to his concerns, which will most likely lead to more customers.

This isn’t to say the airline will offer everyone the same compensation. A Southwest spokesperson informed me that they handle each passenger’s situation on a case-by-case basis—no doubt much will depend on the length of the delay and the interactions the customer had with agents at the airport.

The other thing to note is how Mark handled the situation. He didn’t call and yell at the Customer Service representative. Instead, he calmly told his story and explained where he felt Southwest had erred in how it handled his and his wife’s situation at the airport. Even if a company has treated you terribly, remember that the person on the other end of the line or email wasn’t there when things went wrong. As I discussed in a previous column about how to complain, If you treat a representative with respect, you’re much more likely to get the same in return.

From the opposite perspective, there is an airline I have chosen not to fly with for over twenty years. I’m not going to tell you which one, because I obviously don’t have any recent personal experience; castigating it now would be unfair to its current management and personnel. What I can say, however, is that an agent berated me because I showed up only two minutes before the baggage check-in cutoff, and my bag was heavy. Even though it was under the overweight limit, she charged an excess baggage fee. I was already agitated because the shuttle I had reserved for transport that morning did not show up for the two-hour drive to the airport. I was lucky to have made it at all and was in no mood to be chastised—against my own present-day advice, a heated discussion ensued.

Ultimately, I made it onto the plane. After the flight, I wrote to the airline three times and never got a response. It lost a customer for life. I have paid more for tickets on routes it serves and will even choose bad routes, and arrival and departure times, just to avoid it. I have also told many friends over the years to avoid the airline whenever possible. Imagine how different it would be if it had responded to me in the way Southwest responded to Mark.

Have a travel question you want answered? Email ombudsman@cntraveler.com, or tweet us @CNTraveler #dearombudsman.